Curiosity
by Sentinel07
Summary: A little curiosity goes a long way. In the months leading to SAO, Suguha's sudden interest brings her into the fray, much to the surprise of Kirito himself. Now, both siblings are along for the ride in the most grueling adventure of their lives. Co-written with ThisWillBeFun.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello everyone, I'm Sentinel07. I'm here with yet another fanfic, diving into a series I got acquainted with just a few months ago. If you know me from some of my previous fanfics, including my Kid Icarus and Bleach stories, then nice to see you again! If not, then it's a pleasure to meet you.**

**Since the SAO fanfic archive isn't that big, I brought it upon myself to bring something forward. I will admit that this series is a bit of a stretch for me, but I'm willing to give it a shot. So, to start it off, a disclaimer:**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything of the Sword Art Online series, or any other anime or game series that happens to be referenced. They all belong to their respective owners.**

**Also, helping me with this is ThisWillBeFun, who is also currently co-writing the Bleach story with me. We both like this series, so we'll see how everything goes and hopefully you all will enjoy. **

**So, with nothing else to say, let's hit it!**

**(BEGIN)**

* * *

**Chapter 1: What's so interesting about this game, anyway?**

_August 31, 2022_

For the most part, today was an ordinary day. There were a few clouds in the sky, but no rain or snow. This made for a comfortable jog home for one Suguha Kirigaya, who was on her way home from practice. She had a few things in mind she wanted to work on once she got home, as she missed a step or two she normally didn't make.

Perhaps her distraction could be traced back to another resident of her household: her older brother Kazuto. You see, like many boys his age, Kazuto had a strong liking for video games, especially the new virtual reality ones. In fact, he had basically just spent the entire past month beta-testing for what was to be the newest gaming sensation. Known as "Sword Art Online", the game was going to revolutionize both online play and the virtual reality market, bringing together a new level of player interaction. It was the kind of thing people like Kazuto dreamed about. Heck, one of her buddies in school was looking forward to it, too, even though he knew he'd never be able to afford it.

Frankly, Suguha didn't know what to think of it. She had never been into those kinds of things. Suguha spent the majority of her time focused on two things: school and kendo. What exactly made these video games so interesting? Sure, they looked rather neat, but why would her brother decide to play them instead of, you know, actual stuff? It was a question she seemed to ponder often, even as her house came around the corner.

"Kazuto! I'm home!"

The house was silent, as it usually was at this time. Knowing her mom, she was probably still busy at her work, while Kazuto was likely in his room. If memory served, this was supposed to be the final day of beta-testing, so he was probably done by this point. Knowing him, he probably hadn't even eaten yet. The guy had a tendency to really get involved in his "work". Suguha just sighed as she laid down her stuff and headed out to Kazuto's room. She didn't see him anywhere else, so the only option was….

"Kazuto! Are you in there?!" Suguha knocked on the door to his bedroom, gently at first. At once, she could hear the small sounds of a chair moving. So the guy was awake after all. Still, after about a minute, the door didn't open, making Suguha pout a little bit.

"Kazuto! Open this…..!"

And thus, the door suddenly opened, with Suguha's clenched fist an inch away from Kazuto's face. Kazuto's stunned face as well as Suguha's increasingly red one told the whole story.

"Waahh!" Suguha instantly jumped back aways, feeling as if she just had a heart attack. "Kazuto, how'd you get there so fast?"

"Um, I just answered my door? Maybe you're the one not paying attention, Sugu." Kazuto gave her that small smile that had a slight teasing tone to it. After Suguha finally regained a sensible heart rate, she looked past Kazuto, seeing his lit up computer screen.

"So, um….your thing...is it….?"

"The beta-testing? Yeah, I just finished up an hour ago." Right as he said that, Kazuto's stomach began rumbling. "I probably skipped out on lunch in the process though."

"Ugh, really?! You shouldn't starve yourself over those….things. What if you starve to death?"

"Sugu, I'm not that irresponsible. It's just gaming." As he said that, Kazuto began walking past her. "So, is it dinner time?"

Suguha wasn't too happy about how he just changed the topic, but sighed in defeat anyway. What was the point anyway? She could just simply sigh. "Fine…"

Since their mother went to work early in the morning and returned late at night, the siblings were left to fend for themselves more often than you'd think for a couple of teenagers. Still, they were able to handle it well enough. Though, Suguha had to admit that she wished her brother would help her out a bit more. Once again, he always seemed so absorbed in his games that he rarely ever spent time with her or their mom. Though, his time beta-testing for this SAO game was making his appearances outside his room even more scarce than ever. Even if Suguha wasn't quite sure what her brother saw in any of his games, there was certainly a bit of curiosity as to their true appeal.

* * *

_September 9, 2022_

With Kazuto's beta-testing period done, he had a lot more free time on his hands, outside of school of course. That didn't stop him from being on the computer more often than not. He just couldn't wait for the real challenge to begin. As a beta-tester, he was now on the priority list for getting one of the first copies of "Sword Art Online". He already had the NerveGear and all; it was just a matter of patience. Unfortunately, it seemed patience was an attribute he seemed to lack, since most of his downtime now was spent further studying the development behind the game and the various strategies of the other testers. Even though his time spent in the virtual world had ceased, all he seemed to do in the actual world was prepare for his next trip.

***KNOCK* *KNOCK***

Kazuto sighed as he heard a knock. It could only be one person, but he asked anyway. "Who is it?"

"It's me. Mom wanted me to tell you something," Suguha spoke from the other side. Sighing but still understanding, Kazuto got up from his chair, seeing Suguha as he opened the door.

"Hey Sugu, what do you need?" He asked. Suguha gave a slight smirk as she flashed a small paper in his face.

"Well, since you could use the sunshine, Mom has asked me to give you this; a list of groceries." She seemed awfully proud of herself as Kazuto took the paper from his face.

"You're serious?" He asked.

"Dead serious, and so is Mom. Better get a move on it." Knowing that arguing these topics with Suguha were pointless, Kazuto got himself ready and did just that, grabbing an apple just as he left. He didn't have a big breakfast.

Suguha sighed as Kazuto left. Man, that kid was obsessive. She'd have to find some way to pound proper eating back into his head. After Kazuto was out of sight, Suguha went back to her room, as she needed to get her kendo equipment. It was a weekend after all, so she could naturally use the practice. Besides, the finals competition was on the horizon, and no way in hell she going to miss that, much less lose it. She quickly changed out, closing her door behind her as she left. However, just as she turned around, she saw Kazuto's bedroom door left open. Her mind began entertaining a certain thought. Could this be her opportunity? Kazuto was hardly ever separated from his room, leaving any potential hints of a personal life to himself. While it could be considered invasion of privacy, this was staring Suguha too much in the face for her to pass it up. She took a deep breath just before going in.

"Phew, okay let's go."

Of course, Kazuto's room didn't exactly differ too much from the average teenage boy. In some ways, it was pretty unremarkable. Of course, who was Suguha to talk. Her room wasn't really full of a lot of stuff either. Anyway, he looked over to the left, seeing Kazuto's computer on the desk. She didn't see the screen on, which made her wonder if he had logged out of his computer. What would she do then? She didn't know his password. Sitting in the chair, she saw that the computer was indeed off, so she went ahead and switched it on. The screen came on after a while, and as she feared, it asked for a password.

"Crap." Suguha tried looking at any papers Kazuto had on his desk. Perhaps he wrote it somewhere? She found a couple game-related terms, trying them out but having no luck. After a few minutes, she was beginning to lose her cool. The grocery store wasn't too far away. Kazuto could probably be back within an hour. With that, she ended up accidentally slamming her head on the desk in frustration; giving the desk a big shake and almost giving her head a migraine.

"This is hopeless." She moaned to herself. As she just laid there headfirst on the desk, a piece of paper landed on her head, causing her to get back up. She plucked it off her head, seeing just another random sheet of stuff she couldn't understand. However, her eyes caught something in the upper right corner, seeing a few familiar characters.

"Shinai." The term used for the swords used in kendo. It reminded Suguha of how Kazuto actually used to train with her, before dropping it long ago for whatever reason. She didn't have much to work with, but for the heck of it, she entered in the world. To her surprise, the password was accepted, letting her in.

_"So he DOES remember." _Putting aside that happy thought, Suguha began looking. Now, Suguha wasn't stupid; she knew her way around a computer. Still, many of Kazuto's downloads didn't make much sense. She knew how to use simple programs, just as any student would, but right now she was reduced to clicking on whatever random item she could.

Wondering if she would ever find her way around, Suguha clicked around his e-mail. Quite frankly, she did want to at least avoid his e-mail if at all possible. However, after another click, she apparently ended up in his address book.

"Well, I guess this is good enough." Suguha looked through what she could find. Admittedly, she was impressed to actually see addresses in it. So Kazuto did talk to people after all. There were a few names that had extra names around them, almost like some kind of nickname. Suguha noticed that none of them sounded like female names, until she got to the last entry: Tomoko "Argo" Matsuhita. Now THAT name sounded feminine.

"Wait a second, he knows a girl?! And he didn't tell me?!" If only Suguha actually kept track of her fingers, for she accidentally clicked around the name, apparently on something called "video chat".

"Uh oh."

Right on the screen, a small window popped up, showing a loading screen. Suguha considered just running and never speaking of this again. However, something glued her to her seat. Was it curiosity? Or was she just too afraid to move? Well, it didn't matter now. She hoped no one would be around right now on the other side, but since when is fate that nice.

An image appeared, showing a girl with curly auburn hair, appearing to perhaps be around Suguha's age. To say she was perplexed was an understatement.

"Kirito? What are you doing calling me now?!" The girl clearly seemed a little ticked off. Suguha seemed a little taken back.

"Um….I…." Suguha couldn't really form a sentence under the girl's stern glare. However, that glare soon turned to surprise and then confusion.

"Wait, who are you? You don't look anything like Kirito," the girl asked.

"Um...my name's Suguha. Who's Kirito? Are you referring to Kazuto?" Suguha found it easier to talk when the girl stopped glaring. The girl's eyes just lit up, as she smacked herself in the face.

"Ah right, you'd think I'd remember when he told me his actual name. Oh well, live and learn." Soon enough, the girl turned her attention back to Suguha. "So, what are you doing on his computer? Are you a burglar?"

The girl added a smirk to that comment, making Suguha a little angry. "I'm his sister, thank you very much! Now who are you?"

"Heh, you're kind of funny. The name's Tomoko. I was in the beta-testing program with him. Good times. Shame for the wait, though." The mention of the program got Suguha's attention. Whoever this Tomoko chick may be, she must have been through what Kazuto did.

'Wait,' Suguha thought as she pushed back her natural curiosity. _'Why did she want to call Kazuto 'Kirito'? Why did Kazuto have her labeled under 'Argo'?!' _The potential reasonings behind their use of alternate names were buzzing through her mind, each less appealing than the last. Her face turned red with the thought of her worst case scenario.

"Uh...so, how do you know Kazuto again…?" Suguha asked with an embarrassed tone.

"Oh, we just teamed up a couple times in SAO. Good player, really," she reminisced. "Hear he made it pretty far up the floors. We actually talked pretty often, though. He would tell me amazing tales, some tips, the like. Took some bribing some of the time, but it was all worth it, if you ask me."

"Bribing? What kind of tales? Tips?" The questions just flowed out of her red face.

"You know, tips for the game," Tomoko explained. "Granted, I had to ask permission to write down some of them, but he was a pretty good source. Probably helped that I knew my fair share as well. Said I knew a thing or two about getting information, so he wanted to keep in touch. Smart kid, knows a good source when he sees one."

"Wait, so you two just...exchanged information on the game?" Her face was starting to filter.

"What? You thought we were kissing information between each other?" the girl teased.

"N-no! I was just...wondering, is all…." Well, at least Suguha could cross that possibility off the list. For now, at least.

"What's to you?" Tomoko asked skeptically. "If anything, I should be suspicious about you. Breaking in on your so called _'brother's' _computer, talking to the first girl on his chat list. Yeah, suspiciousness."

"N-no!" Suguha defended. "I was just...curious about the game is all."

"The game, huh?" The girl was still not convinced. "What game again?"

"S-Sword Art Online!"

"You stuttered. Suspiciousness increases."

"I just wanted to maybe know what he saw in that stupid game!"

Tomoko seemed to flinch. Then, she started to look a little angry. "Stupid game? Miss, have you played SAO?"

Suguha was a little taken aback at the girl's newfound intensity. "Uh...no…"

"Have you played a good RPG before?"

"Well, I've played Fire Emblem-"

"Fire Emblem!" Tomoko scoffed. "Listen to me, lady. Have you ever cut a monster in half with your own two hands, a piece of steel, and...well, that's basically it, but that's more than what a couple buttons can accomplish. You practically live the game, every second is as good as real life, if not better because of, well, it's fantasy! Everything from the smell of the dew on the grass, from the smell of rotting flesh of your boar-like foes is every bit as authentic as God's green Earth that we were born on, before you are reborn within an entirely new reality, virtually superior to our original in every conceivable way!" She was practically sweating by now, but her enthusiasm was still undeterred.

"...you sound like a spokesperson for the game."

"That can't be proven," the girl smirked. "Still, I personally _loved _my time there, as did your alleged brother. Shame for the wait, though. Oh well."

"Right…" Suguha honestly had no idea how to react to this strange girl. "So, it's cool then?"

"Yep, pretty much," Tomoko answered simply. "So, any other information you want to squeeze out of me?"

"N-no, I'm good. I...think I'll get off Kazuto's computer now."

"Clever girl. Be sure to cover your tracks, though. Maybe delete his chatting history... just to be sure. He'll notice if something's wrong about it, but he won't care if there's no history. Just remember, this is the only freebee you or your brother'll ever get. Remember that." And with that, she logged out of the chat room.

After taking the advice Tomoko gave out, Suguha was just left to try and cover her tracks. As she was putting the paper up and evening the chair back to its original position, she started to wonder about the strange girl's words. Could a game really be that realistic, to the point of being considered a secondary reality? More importantly, would said reality really be that addictive? Kazuto was always engrossed with his little MMOs, to the point that she could call him an addict. However, he seemed really into this particular one, so it must have been exceptional. Tomoko certainly built it up as something great.

_'This game must have some really good appeal," _she thought to herself_. 'It definitely sounds pretty interesting. I mean, Kazuto's been spending more time in there than in the actual world.' _Then, she had another, completely new thought. _'Maybe it'd be fun to join him...' _She shook her head. _'Who am I kidding? He'd probably wouldn't want me taking up his hobby. Besides, if the game was supposed to be so revolutionary, it's probably had plenty of media coverage, so there'd be no way I could get a copy.'_

As she was about to walk out of the room, kendo gear in hand, she noticed one other thing out of the corner of her eye. It was a gaming magazine, one with "Sword Art Online" as the cover story. In fact, it appeared Kazuto was already in the midst of reading the article on it. Her curiosity got the best of her once more as she started skimming through the words and looking at screenshots, impressed by the almost photorealistic graphics. She had to admit, it looked pretty good and seemed pretty immersive. Suguha was starting to consider how fun this game may actually be. Oh well, she'd have time to think about later. Right now was kendo time.

The thought continued even throughout her practice. Tomoko's words just kept echoing in her head as she imagined her brother being within those pictures she saw, only up close to all the action and experiencing every bit of it as if it were real.

_'Well, there's no harm in trying something new,_' she considered. _'I can at least try to get a copy. If I can't that's okay. Still, it's worth trying, at least. Maybe I could just try and contact the people that made it. What was their name? Oh yeah, Argus!"_

* * *

_September 10, 2022_

After looking up some information about the Argus Corporation, Suguha managed to find to find the proper contacts for them, including a phone number. She still wasn't quite sure how this would actually help her get a copy of the game, but she figured they'd at least be willing to hear her case or give her information. Still, even as the dial tone blaired in her ear, she had no idea exactly what she was going to say.

"Hello, this is Argus Corporation, how may I help you?" a womanly voice said over the phone.

Suguha panicked. "Oh! Uh...I was hoping to see if there was a way I could ensure myself a copy of SAO."

"Sorry, ma'am, but I'm afraid that if you weren't in the beta test, we can't ensure anything. Pre-orders will be available on October 31st."

"I wasn't in the beta test, but my brother was and seemed to like it, so I was just wondering if it was possible. Sorry for wasting your time."

"Not a problem," the woman replied stoically. "Happens all the time. Just out of curiosity, may I ask the name of your brother?"

"Oh, uh, Kazuto Kirigaya, ma'am."

There was a short pause as Suguha could merely hear the sound of fingers typing on a keyboard. Another pause followed, as if the woman was taking in what was on screen.

"Very interesting…" the secretary said. "You know what, he appears to be a very special case. I may bring this up to the higher-ups to discuss, if you wouldn't mind holding. By the way, may I ask for your own name?"

"Suguha Kirigaya. Er, ma'am."

"Okay then, Miss Kirigaya, I'll get back to you in a flash." The woman's calm voice was then replaced with some soothing music from a local music station. The music continued to play for a good hour or two, before the phone was taken back up.

"Hello Ms. Kirigaya." It was definitely a male voice on the phone. Although she didn't quite know why, it was the kind of voice that almost made her shiver.

"S-Sir?"

"I understand that you're Mr. Kirigaya's sister, correct?"

"Y-yes, sir."

"Well, that is quite fascinating. He made it further than the majority of other players, which is quite an extraordinary feat. And I hear that you're asking for your own copy?"

Suguha was actually surprised to hear that. She knew her brother must have been good at these type of games, but she never thought he'd be exceptional to actually garner praise from one of their creators. "Yes, sir. I was hoping to try and join him without him knowing. You know, surprise him."

"Interesting," the man said. "Well, I'm not going to lie, that does sound like a fun thing to do for him. It's players like him that make me feel accomplished in my work. It'd certainly be interesting to see a close relative of him on the frontlines as well."

"So you'll get me a copy?!" She perked up.

"Sure, I believe I owe it to the kid. Of course, I will still have to charge you the appropriate amount. Shall I charge on the same credit card as your brother?"

"Uh...sure." Suguha thought she may have to explain to Mom why she was charged for a video game and have to make it up to her. Oh well, she could make some quick money to pay it off.

"Perfect. I have a copy reserved for you now. It shall be sent to your shared address soon enough. Enjoy."

"Thank you, si-!" Before she could properly thank the man, he already hung up. A little rude, but she understood that he must have been very busy and gone out of his way to give her a copy of the game. Wiping her brow, Suguha just sat on her bed in relief. "Well, what's done is done."

* * *

_November 1, 2022_

The other day, official sales of "Sword Art Online" began to circulate, mostly to those who had priority, thanks to being beta-testers. Kazuto received his the other day, and Suguha was beginning to feel anxious. Hers hadn't arrived yet, but then again, she wasn't a beta-tester, just related to one. Still, retail stores didn't start selling until the next day, so maybe that's when it would come, if it came at all. Suguha just hoped to get her mind off it with her usual practice session. That always cleared her head.

She did have the NerveGear by now, as she bought that herself rather easily. Thankfully, while SAO was a limited release, NerveGears weren't. Although, she did have to "borrow" about 1000 yen from her brother. Sorry, but her allowance wasn't huge. Oh well, she could make it up to him (assuming he ever noticed). For now, she just hid her new hardware underneath her bed.

Soon enough, while she was washing down her face after practice, she could hear the mail coming by. Her ears perked up at the sound. Could it be here? She knew if it was, she'd have to hide it from Kazuto. However, she could already hear him coming down, presumably to obtain said mail.

"I'll get it!" Suguha darted out of the house frantically, passing up her brother before immediately rushing over to the mailbox, opening it, and scanning its contents. Bill. Crud. Bill. More crud. Most of it was crud, until Suguha saw a small box in between, with her name on it. Her heart immediately raced. This was it!

"Sugu, what's up?" Suguha immediately jumped back when she saw Kazuto eyeing her. He briefly saw the small package in between the letters. "What is that? Can I see it?" he asked, but Suguha stepped back while trying to conceal her personal item. She thrusted the normal letters onto his chest and kept the package behind her.

"N-No, it's not yours!"

"Did you order something?"

She needed an excuse. Any excuse. Come on, what would a 13-year old girl order?! "It's just make-up!" She immediately wanted to slap herself. Kazuto immediately raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I thought you weren't into that stuff."

"Well, I'm a girl! I change my mind every 5 minutes!" And with that, she immediately ran inside, not even giving time for Kazuto to form a response.

"...Whatever."

Suguha immediately ran straight to her room, closing her door rapidly. She immediately took a pair of scissors to the package, and there it was: the game itself was in her hands, along with it was a handbook, most likely for introducing the basic gameplay mechanics. Suguha just groaned: the handbook was about the size of a light novel. This could keep her up all night.

"I'm going to need more caffeine."

* * *

_November 6, 2022_

The day had arrived. 1:00 in the afternoon JST would mark the beginning of the highly anticipated VRMMORPG "Sword Art Online". It was a weekend, so all of Japan was getting tuned in for it. Kazuto was finishing some things on his computer, getting ready for what he had waited to do for over a month. Once he was done, he turned the computer of, eyeing the NerveGear on his bed. The game was already installed into it, ready to go. He walked over, placed the NerveGear on his head after plugging it on. Soon enough, it would be go time.

2 minutes to go.

Across the hall, Suguha sat on her bed with her NerveGear in her hands. Steadily, she opened the case, putting game disk inside. On one hand, she couldn't believe she was doing this. She was really going into something she had no experience in. Yet on the other hand, this was the world that had entranced her brother. She wanted to see what this world offered; the world that both Kazuto and Tomoko apparently relished. She placed the device on her head, laying down in preparation as she saw the clock tick down.

1 minute to go.

As the seconds ticked down, both minds wondered what would be in store for them. For Kazuto, it was a return to a world he related to. For Suguha, it was a chance for something new. Against herself, she smiled as the clock approached 1:00.

3…..2…..1…0!

And then two voices rang out.

"LINK START!"

* * *

**(END)**

**Wow, how was that for an intro? Nothing much happened for sure, but I think you all know where this is going. And it's only just the beginning, and it'll be fun diving more into it.**

**Now, as you may have noticed, ThisWillBeFun and I had a little fun with Argo. As far as we know, Argo's real name has never been revealed in the novels, so we took it upon ourselves to come on with one. We had a little fun with her personality too. Hopefully, it meets approval. **

**Well, I'll hand it over to you guys now. Thanks for reading and review if you feel like it. This is Sentinel07, signing out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone, this is Sentinel07 along with ThisWillBeFun and we're bringing you all the chapter of Curiosity.**

**Wow, the first chapter met with raving reviews, overall the best and largest amount of reviews I've ever gotten on the first chapter of any story. Apparently, there is an audience for this story. I'm glad to see it happen.**

**Here are a few notes:**

_Words in italics represent a character's thoughts_

_**Words in bold, italics, and underlined represent a message**_

**Disclaimer: Neither of us own Sword Art Online or anything related to it. **

**As I pretty much expected, I couldn't get past the first chapter without getting pairing questions, but that's no surprise given that it seems to be a sizable part of the series. All I will say is this; I am not ruling any pairing possibility out. Whether one or a few shows up depends on whether or not ThisWillBeFun and I think it fits into the story and if we can do it without half-assing it. Whether Kirito gets any girl or more than that is completely up in the air, so hopefully that answers those questions.**

**So, with that said, let's get it going! Hit it!**

**(BEGIN)**

* * *

**C****hapter 2: This Freaking Game!**

That familiar feeling settled around Kirito; the wind, the ground, and everything in between. This was the feeling he had missed over the past couple months. He didn't even have to look to see the appearance of his avatar; he already knew. Clenching a fist, he smiled to himself, seeing the town around him.

"Hello world, I'm back."

* * *

It was just a rush of colors for Suguha, as if she was diving into a kaleidoscope, falling with no end in sight, like the nightmares she used to have about falling into the lake. It was kind of frightening, yet at the same time, intriguing, to think that this was like going into another world altogether. After a while, Suguha felt like she hit some type of surface that ceased her falling, only to look down to see some type of tiny platform. She wondered what all this was all for, until a small screen appeared on a pedestal in front of her.

**"Welcome to Sword Art Online! Please proceed to enter information for your personal avatar. Instructions can be seen on the screen."**

Suguha looked around her, trying to find whoever just spoke to her. It took her a little while to assume that it was some computer-generated voice or something. Kazuto would probably know all about that. Anyway, putting that aside, she looked at the screen. There were so many options there, ranging from "Name" to "Design" and stuff of that sort, right next to a tiny plain hologram that resembled a human. Looking closer, there were options for "Gender", "Hair Color", and just about every detail of the human body possible. It was pretty detailed.

"Guess this place is no joke," she chuckled a bit to herself. Suguha began recounting the instruction booklet from before.. She remembered reading something about avatar creation, although seeing it for real was a different experience. Should she try to be as true to her normal appearance as possible, or try to make herself look different? Upon further thinking, she didn't want Kazuto to find out about her, at least not immediately. She didn't want to think about how embarrassed she would be if he did, given her usual animosity towards games. He'd probably have a lot of fun with that.

She just shook her head. There was no way he could find out about her, so disguising herself would be the best route. So, Suguha first selected "Gender" and looked at the two options before her. Would she want to stay more headen as a boy or experience the adventure as her more experienced sex? She thought back to some of her earlier kendo fights, before making a name for herself. True, the guys always did go easy on her before they realized how she was never going to go easy on them, so pretending to be a guy would probably prevent special treatment. Then again, why would she want to be treated as an equal just by looking equal? Not to mention, she was starting to wonder just how "realistic" the game would make her feel anatomically. Shivering at the thought, she chose "Female."

Next came the age options. Obviously, it'd be a little difficult for any of the other players to take a thirteen-year-old girl seriously. Still, she probably didn't want to be seen as too adult either, lest she seem less approachable by many of the other players, which were probably the main demographic of those playing. While scrolling down the list of ages, starting at ten and only going up from there, she decided seventeen seemed like a snug age to be in. She tapped on the option and saw the hologram appear to twist, turning from an ambidextrous form to that of a normal teenage girl with a regular build.

"Not a bad start…" Suguha said to herself while looking over the other options. Without much thought, she selected "Hair Color", only to see a piece of short, brown hair appear over the hologram, along with a complex array of colors right next to it. As funny as she thought it would be have blue or pink hair, she figured a more natural color may make her seem a teensy bit more approachable. Still, she did always wonder what it would be like to be blond, so she chose the most golden-colored choice. This was immediately followed by the options for hairstyles, leaving her to choose from a display of different hairstyles. Even though Suguha was never one for long hair, she had to admit that she at least wanted to show off her new hair. So, she chose the option that just resembled a long ponytail, only to see the hologram gain the selected attributes.

Then came the option labelled "Clothing", which displayed a good selection of garbs to go with her age and gender selections, though many were blocked for some reason. Whenever she tried tapping on one of the marked choices, a small screen appeared above it, either saying "Must be Lv. X to purchase" or "Must have X Col to purchase." If Suguha recalled correctly, that was supposed to be the proper currency in the game. Oh well, she figured she'd just have to choose one of the default options, which included what looked like an actually rather well decorated dress with a long skirt and long boots. It seemed good enough for Suguha at the moment, so she selected it without much hesitation, only to have another menu pop up about her preferred colors. After a little thought, she decided to give her clothing the primary color of green, along with the secondary as white. Even though she wasn't much for fashion, especially of the fantasy kind, but she had to admit, it was pretty good-looking to her. It even looked rather fashionable on the hologram as well.

With that out of the way, there wasn't much left to choose. All else that seemed required was a name. Name...name…

"What kind of name would I want?" Suguha asked herself. All she knew was that it had to something fantasy-like. Fantasy...fantasy…

She just stared at her avatar's current form on the hologram. There sat a tall, blond-haired woman with a ponytail and a green and white dress. Amusingly, Suguha thought at how light the avatar looked. She had always been one of the more muscular girls in class, even if she still had the normal outward petiteness of them. This girl in front of her looked as light as a feather, like she could just fly across this supposed new world with no effort at all. On a side note, she also began to wonder if flight was possible within the game. It was just a thought, but she always wanted to know what it felt like to be a leaf in the wind. Huh, leaf...there's an idea.

She considered her idea for a little while before beginning to use the holographic keyboard in front of the name display. One letter at a time, Suguha filled out her new name for the new world.

**"Thank you for choosing to play SAO, Leafa!"** a screen displayed in front of her. **"Basic requirements have been met. To continue, just press "Log in". If you feel you want to add to or modify your avatar, just edit to your hearts content before logging in."**

Well, Suguha felt ready to finally dip into this elusive world she'd been anticipating for so long. However, she did think it'd be a little interesting to see how much further she could customize her appearance, so she pressed an on-screen option labelled "Other Changes." What came up were choices for simple details, like hair length, eye color, height, breast size, accessories...wait…

As much as she wanted to ignore...that option, she couldn't help but think about it. To be honest, she was a _little _jealous of some of her more developed classmates, but not in outright envy. She supposed that it would help her guise a little bit, and it certainly wouldn't hurt, would it? The whole point of the game was to live a fantasy, so maybe it wouldn't be too consequential. Still, just the thought was a little embarrassing to have.

"Well, it is only a game," she reasoned. With that in mind, she slowly pressed to customize that particular aspect, basically flinching once the actual menu for it popped up. Apparently, the default size was a simple B-cup and you could just press a plus or minus symbol to either increase or decrease it respectively. Blushing deeply, Suguha closed her eyes and went to press the plus symbol twice, hearing a ping with each press. After those two times, she quickly reopened her eyes before immediately pressing the button marked "Done". In her shamefulness, she didn't even bother to look at the hologram once it was done. Instead, she just went over and selected to be logged in.

With that, the entire character selection menu disappeared, leaving her in little more than a white void. After a few seconds of nothing, Suguha began to feel a little worried. That changed once a holographic circle came flying right in front of her, causing her to jump in surprise. Further inspection revealed the circle to shine the word "Touch" before changing to "OK". This was immediately followed by a whole bunch of other circles with words representing the rest of the major senses, only to quickly become marked "OK". As sudden as this was, Suguha barely had time to react to it before another menu popped up asking for her to select her language, where it was already selected as Japanese. As Japanese was the only language she really knew, she saw no problem with selecting it without much thought.

Once all this was done, a giant message appeared in place of all the menus. It wasn't informative of anything, just a wall of text shining like a monolith proclaiming "**Welcome to Sword Art Online!"**

This was followed by Suguha feeling sucked past the words in another blaze of colors, albeit exclusively blue this time. Wait, she was actually _feeling _this! It felt as if falling to the sky at turbulent speed, until the screen warped into a flash of blue light, blinding her for the shortest second.

* * *

_Floor 1: Town of Beginnings_

As the lights died down around her, Leafa's eyes slowly opened. There seemed to be lively noises all around her while the sun was shining beautifully, in contrast to the current cloudy skies above her town. For a second, she wondered if she was really seeing straight. That was when she felt something against her neck. She reached back and pulled it in front of her eyes, seeing a handful of golden blond hair. A slight tug on it confirmed that it was real, making her gasp a bit. Her surprise turned a bit to shame once she saw how far up the hair was hanging from her chest. She looked around her, seeing males and females around her. They were all wearing similar suits, though there were some differences between the guys and girls. She looked down at her body, wearing the same clothes she picked out.

Right after that, it hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Oh my gosh, it's real." She brought a hand to her mouth that said. She even sounded more like a 17-year old. The world Kazuto and Tomoko raved about was true all along.

Right from the start, she noticed some things in her field of vision. She could see her name displayed in the upper left corner. Under it was a green bar, showing HP (150/150) with Lv.1 right next to it. She blinked her eyes, still looking at the stats. She recalled something from the instructions, something about a "player interface". Apparently, this was it.

Taking her first steps along the virtual road ahead of her, Leafa took note of everything she saw. The town she just appeared in was pretty large, obviously made as a central hub to players. Looking to her side, she saw some players waving their arms in the air, causing a main menu to appear.

"So that's how it works?" she muttered to herself.

She tried mimicking that motion, causing her to step back a bit when her own screen appeared in front of her. Once she got over that, Leafa took a good look at it. From her experience, it was like a touch screen on a phone. Even she had used those before. There were 5 main options: "Inventory", "Friends", "Messaging", "Maps", and finally "Settings".

"Oh boy." These options had many sub-topics underneath them. These went into more specifics, such as dividing "Weapons" from "Armor" and "Accessories". Others went into topics such as "Guilds", "Chat", and more. For a first-timer, it was enough to make her head spin. Perhaps she should have paid more attention to the instruction manual. She took her hands off the menu, allowing it to disappear, and raised a hand to her head. This was going to give her a sure headache.

Well, just standing around wasn't going to help her. She had to imagine that Kazuto would leave around dinner, and she didn't want to tip off that she was in this game too. Then again, her avatar and name should be able to throw him off if she met him. In fact, what was there to worry about? Kazuto would have no idea that she was this long-haired blonde girl with a large chest, so things should be good.

Now, what would be her first move? She didn't know anyone here. Well, there was Kazuto and she imagined Tomoko would be around here as well, but she didn't know how to contact either of them. Perhaps she should have tried to talk to Tomoko again so she would know. She hadn't tried to talk to her after their first little chat. Then again, she did say that her next advice wouldn't be free, so Leafa doubted she could even afford Tomoko's company.

Wow, only in the game for a few minutes and she was already running out of options. Such were the trials of being a rookie. Leafa gritted her teeth together in mild frustration. She just had to get lost on the first freaking day!

"Well, this is just-OOMPH!"

Leafa felt herself impact the ground after running into something she couldn't identify as anything more than hard. Given her recent frustration, she was about to yell at whatever ran into her, whether it was sentient or not. Instead, she paused as she saw another girl, perhaps around her own virtual age. The girl was wearing clothes similar to Leafa's, only with a red and white design and a couple smaller details. Her body was about the same for that age and she had brunette hair tied up in a smaller ponytail. Oddly enough, despite her apparent age, there seemed to be a certain childishness about her.

"Oh, I'm really sorry! I wasn't paying attention!" the brown-haired girl pleaded. Leafa couldn't stay mad after that, allowing herself to give a half-smile.

"It's alright. I'm not angry. I should have been looking." Leafa propped herself up and offered a hand to the girl, who accepted and was helped up. Both girls dusted themselves off after their little fall. After that, there was a bit of a silence before the girl decided to speak up.

"Um...I'm Silica by the way. It's nice to meet you." There was a certain shyness in her voice, as if she didn't talk to other people very much. Honesty, it helped Leafa feel a bit better. Guess she wasn't the only person who didn't know what to do.

"Nice to meet you, Silica. I'm Leafa." With that, the two girls enjoyed a brief handshake. "So, um, you know your way around?"

Silica's expression was just as bashful as Leafa's. "Heh, no. I didn't read the instructions very well."

"Join the club." With no real destination, both girls decided to enjoy a leisurely walk together, as there was no point in just standing around. As they did though, they saw many shops around, with people already buying early gear for the road ahead. That was when Leafa remembered the currency system and reopened her menu. There was a spot where it said how much Col she was getting to start: 200. Apparently, Silica had the same amount.

"Hey, do you want me to get us some drinks? The sign says they're only 5 Col for the first day. My treat for running into you," Silica beamed a smile.

"Oh no, I can't let you spend it on me. You'll need it for your own supplies, right?"

"It's alright. I think most of the things on the first day are cheap, so we can get a good start. At least, that's what I've been hearing around. So you just wait right here." Silica didn't even wait for a response. She just ran to a nearby shop, getting in line inside.

Leafa half-smiled at Silica's enthusiasm. This was obviously an experience she wanted to enjoy, so who was Leafa to rain down on that parade? However, this just left her on her own again, doing nothing.

"And now I'm on my own ag-OOMPH!" Once again, Leafa got hit in the back, although it wasn't enough to knock to the ground this time. Sheesh, can't anyone pay attention in this game?

"What was that for?!" She turned around and paused a bit. In front of her was a dark-haired boy, a tiny bit taller than her. His hair looked very familiar, but his features looked like something out of a Japanese manga hero.

"Ah, sorry about that. I was talking to this guy over here," the boy spoke, motioning to another guy with red hair and a bandana.

"You seen this girl before, Kirito?" asked the redhead.

"Not that I'm aware of, Klein," the boy responded before turning back to Leafa. "What's wrong with you?"

Leafa's jaw literally dropped at the mention of the name. Kirito?! As in the same name Tomoko talked about back in the chat? Her brother's name? Had she already come face-to-face with her gaming addict of a brother?

However, Leafa's expression began slowly shifting from exasperation to blank and then a slight giggle came from her throat. So this was her brothers avatar. Was this how he imagined himself to be? Just like a hero out of a manga. Leafa actually had to try to contain her laughter. At the same time, Kirito couldn't help but wonder what was up with the girl.

"Um, are you alright?"

She stopped herself from laughing, but a bright smile was still on her face. "Yes, I'm alright, thanks. I'm Leafa."

"I'm Kirito. Nice to meet you."

"The name's Klein, lovely lady." Both guys shook hands with her, although Leafa felt less confident around Klein. He seemed like a nice guy, but there was a certain look in his eyes that gave her a bit of unease.

"Well, we should get going. Later, Leafa," said Kirito as he walked past her. Leafa gave him a small wave as he went. That could not have gone any better. Kirito had no idea who she was and she even got a laugh out of it. What could spoil the mood?

Apparently, Klein had an idea, as he stopped for a bit and walked back to Leafa, getting a perplexing look from the departing Kirito.

"You know Miss, if you'd like, I've got an offer for you," he said in a voice that sounded a little too gentlemanly.

'_Oh no, is he hitting on me?'_ Leafa thought regrettably. Klein immediately took her right hand, which caused her face to go red, as it tended to have the habit to at moments like this.

"Oh Milady, if you'd like, we could take a nice stroll around the floor. Just you and me, and perhaps dinner as well. Perhaps I could also get your e-mail too, pretty please?" Klein tried in a voice that was in equal parts too excited and too much like begging.

It didn't take the greatest observer to see that Leafa's face as red as Klein's hair. Though, this time, it wasn't just because of embarrassment. She was officially mad.

"GO PISS YOURSELF!" And then she abruptly kicked him in the nuts, the impact of which sent him flying a ways past Kirito. Deciding not to make the blonde girl any angrier, Kirito wisely left to pick up Klein. He still had to help show Klein the ropes. However, something came to mind for Kirito, but he couldn't quite figure it out.

"You know, I could swear that I've seen that temper before."

* * *

"What happened here?" Silica had returned with drinks, only to find a panting Leafa. The color in her face had died down considerably and she sighed in relief.

"Nothing too important. Just a moron."

Silica sheepishly smiled as she handed Leafa the drink she got. Apparently, it was some basic drink sold here. The taste wasn't spectacular, but it was good enough for a game. The two were actually still surprised as to how they could really taste in this game.

"Well, don't worry about it. At least everyone's okay." Silica happily took a sip of her drink. "By the way, Leafa, how much time do you have before you have to log out?"

"Hmm, well I probably won't have dinner until about 6:00, so I'd say I have at least until then," said Leafa. Silica brightened up a bit.

"That's cool. My parents want me home around 4:00, but that gives us some time." Silica immediately perked up, finishing her drink as the remains burst into little shards.

Leafa was confused. "Time for what?"

"Training of course. I want to see what battling monsters is like. The book said that there are so many different kinds. I want to see them all," she answered with her eyes glistening in admiration. Leafa laughed a bit as she finished her drink as well.

"Oh, a zoologist are we?" Silica pouted a bit at Leafa's jab, which immediately led to both of them laughing.

"You know, this is great!"

"What is?"

"I already made a friend!" Silica immediately stopped after saying that, though. "Um...I mean, are we friends?"

Leafa's surprise faded into a smile. "Of course we are. Why wouldn't we be?"

"Woo-hoo!" Silica jumped in the air a bit, getting a little unwanted attention from other players. She then went straight to her menu, confusing Leafa. "I hope I remembered this right. Let's see…..nope….nada…..no way….ah ha! There it is."

As she pressed a button, a message immediately appeared in front of Leafa, much to her surprise.

_**"Silica has sent you a friend request. Do you accept? Yes/No?" **_

Apparently, this was how certain things were done in a computer. Still, what reason did Leafa have to refuse? She went straight to the "Yes" option, getting the confirmation on the screen before it vanished.

Before she knew it, she was enveloped in a hug by Silica, who was clearly in a state of joy.

"My first online friend!" As much as she knew Silica liked it, Leafa wasn't enjoying it as much. Her face was beginning to turn blue. Apparently, virtual or not, people need oxygen.

"Yeah, that's great….could you please let go now? You're kinda choking the air out of me." Upon hearing that, she immediately let go, a sheepish look on her face.

"Sorry, my bad." Leafa had to get her air back, but she was alright.

"No problem." Right as she said that, Silica immediately grabbed her hand.

"Come on, I want to see the fields. Onward!" With a hearty point forwards, Silica began marching towards the fields, dragging poor Leafa behind her.

"This freaking game is going to drive me insane."

* * *

**(END)**

**I imagine you all know what's coming up next. Look forward to it.**

**So, we welcome the introduction of Silica into the fic. I cannot tell you how much I like bringing her into this. Such a disappointment that she appeared so sparingly in the anime. Well, be assured that the lovable Beast Tamer is going to get some screen time here.**

**Well, that's all from us. Please review and enjoy the chapter. Next time, we get down to business, but I'm sure you all knew that already. Sorry if the opening is a bit slow, but we really wanted to set things up well.**

**Until next time! Sentinel07, out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everyone, this is Sentinel07 along with ThisWillBeFun, and we're here with Chapter 3 of Curiosity. **

**Got about the same reception for Chapter 2 as Chapter 1. Sounds like a good pace so far.**

**Disclaimer: We don't own Sword Art Online or anything related to them.**

**Well, shall we get right to it then. Time for things to really get going. Hit it!**

**(BEGIN)**

* * *

**Chapter 3: The Game Begins**

_Outside Town of Beginnings- 1:30 PM_

Outside the Town of Beginnings, Leafa and Silica ran out on to the fields. Well, it was more like one being dragged out; Leafa specifically. Silica was so excited to finally get out that Leafa didn't really have a say in the matter. Well, it was worth putting up with. At least Leafa actually had someone to converse with.

Once they were a ways out, Silica brought out her menu, going over a few things that she remembered from the instructions. All of their gear was "Standard" equipment; it was even in the names. One thing they noticed though that their gear seemed to differ from the actual clothes they wore. According to Silica, that apparently made sense, since normally in RPG's, a character's clothing differed from the armor they wore. Supposedly, any clothes they were wearing were in the "Accessories" section. Leafa of course didn't know much of that.

"How do you know all of this?"

"I've played a few games. Just before this, I was playing Pokemon Plus!"

Leafa recalled the name (who hasn't?), but she never played that. Boy, was she really out of touch here.

"So, you ready to defeat some enemies?" Silica chirped.

"Enemies already?"

"Yeah, they're just tiny animals at the very beginning. I'm not quite sure how exactly the fighting mechanics are in here, but I figured we can learn as we go along."

"But what are we going to fight with?!"

Silica put her finger under her chin. "Good question. Probably need to check our inventories. You usually start off with some type of simple weapon, like a small knife or a stick."

"We're going to fight things with sticks?" Leafa didn't have any idea what the heck they were supposed to be fighting, but she was pretty sure it'd take more than piece of wood to defend herself. It made her truly wonder if her sword skills back in the real world made any difference now.

Her friend simply giggled. "No, silly, I don't think we'd be using sticks for this game. It's just that some games make you begin with one, but it's mainly the more story-driven ones. Come to think of it, I actually wonder if there's a story to go with this world. It's so huge and awesome and all, but there has to be more to eat than just what we can see."

"Well, the book didn't say anything, so I don't really care," Leafa brushed off. "Now, you said we should check in our inventory thingies?"

"Yeah. You know how to do that, right? If not, I could show you how."

"Don't patronize me!" Angrily, she opened her menu the way she did before. "See? I know what I'm doing."

"Okay, okay, no need to get hasty," Silica sweated. "Man, no need to get so intense." She then opened her own menu.

"Oh, sorry," Leafa apologized. "I'm just getting used to this whole 'game thing'. Now, let's see what we got here…" She selected the inventory option, followed by the equipment one. A list of everything at her disposal appeared, though it was mostly blank due to having little more than her armor and something labelled "One-Handed Straight Sword". "Sweet, I got a sword!" She quickly selected the sword and watched in awe as what seemed like small blue shards form together to form a small blade within her very grip.

It wasn't much of a weapon by the game's standards, or even regular RPG standards. The sword consisted of a small, even somewhat dull blade with an even smaller grip, but to Leafa, it was the most beautiful instrument she had ever held before. Sure, she had grasped the old shinai many, many times, but not once had she handled an actual, steel sword. Just the way the sun shined upon it was enough to mesmerize her eyes as she started to imagine the sheer amount of possibilities this one sword could unlock.

"Leafa? Yoo-hoo?" Silica said while waving her hand of front of her entranced friend.

"Huh?" Leafa snapped back to reality. "S-sorry. I just got kinda...distracted for a moment there."

"It's okay, I know what it's like to get distracted by shiny objects," she smirked.

"It's not like that," Leafa defended, more than a little embarrassed by her ditzy moment. "It's just that I never thought I'd ever hold a sword like this in my life. Just taking it in is all."

"Yeah, I know the feeling. Check mine out!" Silica quickly brushed through her menu and selected her own default weapon, an even smaller sword with more of a curved, orangish blade. "I think it's called a Reaver or something." She took a dignified stance. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"I suppose. Now, where exactly do we find these enemy-things?"

"Not sure. Guess we just keep on walking until we see some. You know how to use your sword?"

Leafa scoffed. "Of course! I'll let you know, I'm a rather renowned kendo practitioner back in the real world."

"Well, that won't help you here," Silica chuckled. "In case you haven't realized, this is a completely different world with completely different means of swordplay. We might want to consult the in-game manual on how to use them, though."

"Oh, please. What's to understand about swish, swish, stab?"

"I think there's more to it than that."

"Whatever. You see that?" She pointed off into the distance, where two small figures laid. They weren't entirely visible, barely coming off as two dark orbs on a faraway hill. Still, they were there and the two partners were excited.

"Yay! Our first encounter!" Silica cheered. "Come on, let's go!" Leafa started to prepare herself to be dragged again, but after a couple seconds of not being tugged on, she saw her partner already running off into the distance.

"H-hey, wait up!" she called out while trying her best to catch up. Damn, that girl was pepped up. The two sprinted off towards their game, the figures becoming clearer with each passing moment. Leafa was extremely excited to see what kind of enemies they were to fight, only to see the orbs' image begin to clear, revealing...hogs?

"S-Silica, hold on a minute!" she shouted in order for her rushing partner. She did hear her plea and ceased her advancing to properly speak together.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"Are those pigs?" Leafa asked, a little dumbfounded.

Silica did a quick double take to their approaching enemies. "Yeah, looks like it. More like boars, though."

"We're fighting animals?"

"Yeah…" Silica answered with a weird look. "Why?"

"That's what we're fighting? No monsters, just animals?"

"Currently, yeah."

"Because the manual said there would be monsters with weapons and stuff to fight, not just little defenseless animal things."

"We will, just not now."

"Then when?!" Leafa was becoming a little exasperated by now. After all the hard work, money spent (and borrowed), and apology work, she finally managed to get her hands on a game where you had to start by killing stupid animals?! That didn't sound attractive at all. Maybe her brother just needed some way to take out his built up frustration, so he just played these games in order to help with that.

"Well, first we need to level up, so we can fight the harder enemies," Silica tried to explain. "The harder enemies are in dungeons and other places, which you can't go to unless you're strong enough."

"I'm strong enough!" Taking out her straight sword, the blond warrior took a battle ready stance. "Just you wait, I'll have these two into bacon in no time."

"Wait," the other pleaded while tugging on the sleeves of her partner. "You can't just go rushing blindly. Even in Pokemon, you have to have some sort of strategy."

"Pigs are killed all the time in the real world, so I imagine it won't be that difficult within a fake one."

"So you're just going to charge at them, no plan at all?"

"Like I said, it's nothing more than swish, swish, stab. Watch and learn." With that said, Leafa rushed off into the distance with all her speed, which honestly wasn't much considering how underdeveloped her skills currently were.

If she had bothered to look into the actual stat system of the game, she would have realized her great mistake of heading straight towards her game with such reckless abandon. Still, despite her low in-game stamina, Leafa ran up the hill of her enemies without losing her initial speed, eye on the prize. Even such low level enemies could see her coming in a good twenty feet feet away, meaning that while she was just about to thrust her sword right through the boar's body, the beast decided to charge an attack and give a good hit before she could. It wasn't long before she ended up being flung right off the hill the hogs was perched on, only to crash quite a few feet backwards, not to mention downwards. The impact was not comfortable for the girl and only became more humiliating once she opened her eyes to see Silica looking over her with a smug smile.

"I suppose you really do have the workings of a master butcher, Miss Leafa," the girl taunted while barely containing her laughter. It didn't take long for it to come out, though. Leafa could only glare as the other girl guffawed at her predicament.

"It's not that funny…" she defended while getting back on her feet.

"S-sorry!" Silica attempted to apologized while trying to suppress any further laughter. "You gotta admit, that was pretty funny. You did kind of deserve it."

"Yeah, yeah." The two glanced back up the hill to see the two enemy boars staring back at them menacingly with glowing red eyes. Now that Leafa got a good look at the beast, she could see its more monstrous qualities. Although she had not seen many other hogs in her life before, she was certain they didn't usually have such blue hair or such a hunched back. The red eyes were definitely an artistic decision.

Glancing off to her upper left point of view, Leafa noticed her HP bar, which had declined a little. Luckily for her, the boar didn't have too much time to charge an attack, so the damage was minimal, probably only an eighth of it gone, she couldn't quite tell. Still, it was more than she wanted gone and more than she was going to allow. Her expression became similar to the enemy glaring at her, one of sheer bloodlust. Taking a traditional kendo stance, she just waited for her opponent to make the first move.

"You're just going to attack it straight on again, huh?" Silica sighed. The boar was already starting to run down the hill and towards her fellow player.

"What, you have something else in mine?" The pig was halfway to her, though Leafa's stance did not falter.

"Yeah, it's called a strategy. Watch." The brown-haired girl brandished her own sword and held it beside her shoulders. The blade began to glow just as the boar, with its fully charged attack, came rushing towards her friend. She then thrusted the sword forward, ready to perform the action she had read about in the instruction manual. Silica was then whisked away by the dagger's strength.

While she was shrieking at her sudden flinging, Silica did manage to slice through the pig critically, though not fatally. Still, the enemy's health bar was already in the red and its path towards her partner was deterred, so it wasn't a total loss. Both the player and the pig were now several yards further away from their original spot.

"How the hell'd you do that?!" Leafa said in astonishment.

"I think they're called 'Sword Skills' or something," Silica answered while struggling to keep her balance. "Maybe I should have read the manual a little bit more intently. God, I think I'm going to be sick."

As the girl tried to her regain her composure, the enemy boar was faster to recuperate. Back on its feet, the beast began to charge for another attack for its new attacker, only to get cut off by the stabbing of a different sword into its back before exploding into blue shards. By the time Silica's vision cleared itself, all she could see was Leafa, a One-Handed Sword stuck in the ground, and some type of screen where the pig once laid.

"Yes!" Leafa cheered while digging her sword out of the grass. "You saw that, right?"

"S-sure…" her partner nervously chuckled. "What's the screen say?"

"Well, let's see…" She looked at the screen in front of her. "Results: EXP...what is-?"

"Experience points."

"Right. Well, whatever that is, I got twenty-four of them. Looks like I also got thirty Col and two new items. Cool."

"What do I get?"

"Huh?"

"Well, I did give most of the damage, so what do I get?"

Leafa closed the result screen with a nervous look. "I dunno. I guess...nothing…?"

"Seriously?!" Silica pouted while stomping her right foot. "That just isn't fair." Glancing upwards, she saw the boar's little friend from before. She then pointed at the looming figure. "You see that one?"

"Yeah…"

"It's mine." She brandished her dagger once again and ran uphill. Leafa could only watch, more than a little amused.

* * *

_Town of Beginnings- 3:55 PM_

"I still don't get it. I had to kill, like, twenty-something pigs. Maybe thirty, forty, I don't know. Point is, how am I only level four?"

"It's a gradual system," Silica rationalized as the two walked down the streets, taking in the sights of the beginning town. All around them, players like themselves were just strolling around while talking, with others simply taking in the sights and smells of the place or visiting with NPCs. Considering all the activity in the town, it was already looking like an actual, sprawling community. Well, a rather fantastical one, but one nonetheless.

"It's a stupid system if you ask me," Leafa pouted while looking at all the people at stands manned by strangely garbed avatars. "Say, what's with all these players selling stuff to other ones?"

"Huh?"

"The street vendors. How are they selling stuff? Where'd they get it?" Silica giggled in response, prompting a "What?" from her partner, followed by two more, each raising in volume and annoyance.

"Those are NPCs, stupid," the girl finally answered. "They're not players, they're just computers that act like real people."

"What? But they act so real!"

"Such is the wonder of Sword Art Online." Looking at the vendors herself, she began to wonder what sort of what sort of swords she may be able to procure herself, should she ever build up the money to properly purchase one. Come to think of it, how much time had passed already. "Can we stop for a sec?" she asked her other party member.

"Uh, sure. What's up?"

"Nothing, just checking the time." Silica opened up her menu, only to notice the lateness of the time. "Oh, man! It's almost four!"

"Huh?"

"Sorry, Leafa, I gotta go," Silica bowed in apology before scrolling down her menu. "It's been fun, really, but I got other things."

"I understand," Leafa said with a small smile. "We're friended, right? We can just track each other once we're both online. right?"

"Yeah!" Her expression brightened up a bit. "I'll try coming back on after dinner. See ya!"

"See ya."

The two exchanged friendly faces before Silica went to press the proper log-out button. She wondered why the option had no writing, but having read the manual before, she knew it was supposed to be the last option down. Oh well, she didn't make the game, so she had no reason to question the design choice, although the fact that nothing nothing happened after its selection was rather strange. Nothing happening after about ten other attempts was downright alarming.

"Dang it, what's wrong with this stupid thing?!" Silica yelled after attempting her selection a twelfth time.

"Is the button not working?" Leafa asked quizzically.

"What does it look like?!" the other girl snapped back. After seeing her friend's shocked look, she quickly changed her temsed up demeanor. "S-sorry. Just kind of lost myself there."

"It's okay, really." Leafa strolled on over to Silica's menu and examined the blank space. "You sure that's where the log-out's supposed to be?"

"Yes! That's where the manual said it was, so it should be there!"

Lefa hummed to herself before attempting to touch her friend's menu, only to cause it to retract immediately. "What the heck?"

"It's my menu, doofus." Silica then reopened her menu with a determined look on her face. Ignoring the still blank choice, she went straight to her inventory and went on to select the player manual, not batting an eye once the book materialized in her hands.

"What's tha-?"

"The player's guide," the girl cut off while beginning to flip through the pages in hope of some tech support. She began to flip through page to page, hoping to find something remotely helpful for this situation. The more she flipped, the more anxious her expression became and the more frantically she flipped. Luckily she soon found what she was looking for.

"Aha! Found it!" she cheered. "If logout commands fail, it may be due to a system failure or glitch. Please send an error report should the option appear and, if not, send a message to a gamemaster." She shut the book. "I have no idea what any of that means."

"It sounds to me like it's a problem only the people in control can fix," Leafa inferred. "Maybe we should just wait for them to fix it or whatever."

"Well, it's a pretty big problem to have on the first day," Silica grumbled while closing her menu. "Though, I guess I don't have much of a choice right." She gave off a weak smile. "I guess my parents are just gonna have to wait on me."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Leafa chirped. "Now, how about we see what this town has to offer? I bet I could use a new sword besides this lame thing. I wonder if we have enough money, though."

"Only one way to find out!" Silica said while regaining her regular grin.

_Town of Beginnings- 5:20 PM _

"Damn, the weapons here are freakin' expensive!" Leafa yelled as she and her partner entered the town's local cafe. After over an hour of attempted in-game shopping, the two had finally given up on trying to equip themselves with more admirable equipment.

"Well, we are just beginners," the other girl said calmly while choosing a table for them to sit at. "You can't expect all the options to be open just like that." She then spied a free table in the center of the restaurant and walked over to it, with Leafa following compliantly. The two then sat down across from each other.

"I'm just saying, we've just been walking around aimlessly and for what? A couple of potions? Elixir thingies? We could have been killing some more of those annoying boars and getting more Col, not to mention more experience."

Silica giggled. "I guess you're finally starting to get into the spirit of the game, huh?"

"I guess." Leafa then looked around the cafe a bit. "Say, how do we order something here? Do we wait for a NPC or go over to one or what?"

"I'm...not sure." That was when Silica noticed a small button on the wooden surface of the table. Curiously, she tapped on it, only for a restaurant menu to materialize in her lap, causing her to "eep" a little.

"Woah, cool!" Leafa exclaimed while making her own materialize. "Are you really supposed to be able to taste the food here, like it's actually real?"

"So I've heard." She looked into her choices. "Hm...green tea, no...coffee, no...ooh! Hot chocolate sounds nice!"

"Same here, I guess. Although, 60 Col does sound a little expensive. Think we can spare that expense?"

"Sure, why not? Whatever we spend today, we can just make up next time! It's launch day, so now's a better time than ever to just do everything with reckless abandon."

"Yeah, I guess you're...right…" Leafa's attention seemed to veer towards some other source. Across the restaurant, there sat a familiar looking girl that looked about thirteen with curly auburn hair and wearing some standard armor just sitting at a table all alone, looking to be in deep thought. Could it actually be…?

"Excuse me, may I ask you your name?"

"Huh?" the mysterious girl muttered as she stared at the older-looking blond girl in front of her. She then seemed to actually process what was then asked of her. A smug grin then creeped itself on her face. "That may cost you some money to answer. Ah, what the heck, it's launch day! I'll give you one answer for free." The girl then propped her feet against the legs of the table she was sitting at, as to cause her chair to lean back before offering a handshake. "Name's Argo. Best remember it for later on."

"Argo?" Now that sounded familiar to Leafa. "Would your actual name happen to be, uh, Tomoko?"

The girl's eyes widened a bit. "Have we met before?"

"Kinda. On video chat, remember?"

Argo looked surprised for a second before reclaiming her usual smugness. "Well, well, looks like Kirito's snooping little sis finally caved in. Impressive. Nice to see you've even gone ahead and made some…" Her eyes lowered slightly below Leafa's face. "...creative liberties."

"Sh-shut up!" Leafa shouted almost as a defense mechanism, inwardly wondering why realtime blushing was an in-game feature. "Why do you look exactly the same, anyway? I thought you could make yourself anyone in this game."

"You can. That's why I chose to be me." Argo released her feet, causing the chair to crash back down on the floor with a thud. "I'm not one for lying, really. Not a good attribute for an Info-Broker."

"Am I supposed to know what that means?"

"It means it's gonna cost you if you want to know about what it is. I don't answer nothing for free, so you either have to deliver money or service for whatever you want to know."

"But that was exactly what I wanted to know."

"And now you owe me." Leafa was left to interpret whether or not Argo's canines were that large in real life or not. Either way, they looked way too noticeable in her state of perpetual smugness. It was almost annoying.

"Well, whatever," the other girl brushed off while trying her best not to want to punch the smile in front of her. "I guess you were right in that this game is pretty cool. Could use some improvements, though."

"Oh, really?" Argo perked up. "Interesting. I'd love to hear constructive criticism from a non-gamer's point of view, assuming you're not one of those people that just complain about things being too hard and such. Basically, don't blame the game for all your suckiness."

"You're really just asking for a punching, aren't you?"

The Info-Broker opened up her inventory and popped out a notepad and pen. "Other players don't count as legitimate complaints either, by the way. Now, shoot."

"Well…" Leafa pondered. "There is the small problem of not being able to log out, for one."

"Oh, you noticed that, too?" She didn't even bother writing it down. "It really is a bad glitch, especially for the game's overall reputation. Although, this isn't the first time this has happened."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, back during the beta, on the last day I believe, the logout button disappeared for almost two hours. It came back later, of course, but it was still strange."

"So then this isn't a new glitch?" Even Leafa had to know that wasn't a good sign of the game's quality.

"Pfft, heck if I know. Maybe it's the same one, maybe it's a new one, maybe it's just for one big stunt, I don't know. So, any other complaints, other than practically being trapped right now?"

"Well, you do have to kill a bunch of stupid animals to get the good stuff, but other than that, everything seems alright."

"Ah." Argo rose from her seat and put her materials back in her inventory. "I'll just take that as a sign of your own incompetence then." Before Leafa could make the rat's spiky maw cave in, the girl was already darting towards the exit. Even if she had never played an online game that much, Leafa could still label Argo as a textbook troll.

"Weirdo…" she muttered to herself while returning to the table where Silica had been watching.

"The heck was that about?" she asked while putting her cup of hot chocolate down.

"Long story, no idea," was all the answer she got. "That stuff really taste real?"

"Yep~!" she cheered while holding her mug up high. "And super yummy!"

"Cool, cool." Leafa then took her own menu and pressed her finger against the hot chocolate option. A screen popped up on the menu asking for confirmation, to which she confirmed. Right now, she needed something to drink. So, she proudly accepted the scalding heat and sweetness of her chocolate. "Ah...that's good."

"Ah, there they are!" Leafa flinched a bit as she heard a familiar voice. She slowly turned her head to a familiar redhead along with Kirito walking back. Her delight at seeing Kirito was contrasted with seeing the guy she kicked in the virtual balls a few hours ago.

"Oh, hello!" Silica gave the two a nice wave, while Leafa went back to her drink, hoping not too catch too much of her brother's attention. However, the two boys ended up taking a seat at the table right next to them, both of them looking a little tired.

"Were you both out training?" asked Silica.

"Yeah, Klein wanted me to teach him the ropes. However, we decided to come back after we ran into a problem. Klein couldn't log out and I couldn't find the option, Kirito explained, gaining knowing nods from both of the girls.

"We had the same problem." Silica told them. "So it's not just us after all."

"Nope, it's the final day of testing all over again," Kirito sighed while leaning back in his chair. Leafa couldn't help but giggle a little bit, actually getting the meaning of her brother's complaints, rather than be in the dark like, say, anyone else that wasn't a beta tester.

"Well, why are you two here then?" Silica asked, causing Klein to chuckle nervously.

"Well, I…kinda…" Klein coughed in order to clear his throat while steering his eye contact towards the blonde in the group. "Yeah, um, I was feeling a bit sorry for my previous uncouth behavior, so...I figured that, since I'm practically stuck here, maybe it wouldn't hurt to, you know…"

"Are you trying to apologize for earlier?" Leafa finally interrupted.

"Uh...yeah…" he replied, even more embarrassed at not being able to even properly apologize by himself. "So, think you would be willing to?"

"Maybe," was all the answer he got.

"That's all I'm ever gonna get, huh?"

"Pretty much."

"Fine…" Klein sighed. "I guess I can live with that."

"Well, that's taken care of," Kirito sighed as well. "If you ask me, trying to make a relationship based on virtual identities is rather meaningless. You never know who the person you're talking to is IRL, neither physically or mentally, so there's no use thinking pretend you know the person."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Leafa added with a smug smile. "How else do you make friends in games?"

"By playing them, of course," was the simple reply. "People like games and people like playing them with people. That doesn't mean you necessarily like the people playing."

"Hey, man, that hurts," Klein said, a little disappointed.

"Oh, sorry," Kirito apologized. "I was referring to romantic relationships mainly, not personal ones altogether."

"Still hurts," his friend said a little more jokingly.

"Still, you can hardly even tell one's gender in a game," Kirito continued. "Heck, there's no telling you two are even really girls.

"**What?!" **both girls shouted, both burning red faces and looks that could kill. And by the looks of it, they looked about ready to.

"W-wait, m-maybe I could have phrased that better," he said hastily. "What I meant was, you can't tell anyone who anyone is in the real world! Heck, who even knows what Klein's like?

"I do!" Klein said with an annoyed look. "You trying to say that I'm a girl?"

"N-no! I...please tell me you're joking."

His friend gave a deep, mocking pout. "Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. You can't really tell, can you?"

"Pfft, how do we know you're not some girl in the real world?" Leafa said with an evil grin that could frighten a shark. "I bet that's just who you are, some little girl who can't fight worth a damn in real life."

"H-hey, please stop ganging up on me," Kirito sweated. "This only proves my point further, really."

"Well, can't argue with that logic," Silica rationalized while taking a sip of hot chocolate.

Kirito sighed. "Thank you."

"I mean, there's no reason we should make fun of Kirito for being a weak little girl outside."

Both tables immediately bursted into laughter, with the only exception of a very annoyed Kirito. Not even a kindly patting on the back by Klein was enough to brighten up the boy's face. However, their great laughter ceased after hearing a loud ring from outside.

"Strange, it shouldn't be time to ring any kind of bells," Silica commented.

"I actually don't remember it ringing at any point during testing," the only beta-tester in the group added. "Maybe it's just a small post change." That was when they all heard loud mutterings from outside.

"Wonder what that's all about," Klein pondered.

"Yeah…" Leafa said suspiciously. "Feel like maybe checking it out?"

The two tables replied with variances of "yes" and "sure", they all decided to head outside to see what all the commotion was about. Once they arrived outside, all they saw were a bunch of players looking up to the sky and pointing. After a while, other players seemed to be transported there against their will, with various levels of disappointments. Yet, all of them looked to the sky afterwards. Their group was no exception.

Up in the sky, a single "Warning!" sign blinked, like a panel on a computer screen. Just as everyone began to wonder what it was about, the single sign became many, all spread over the sky, as many sirens went off at once. No one, not even the beta testers, had ever seen this before.

"Um, Kirito? What is that?" asked Leafa.

"I have no idea. Even I've never seen something like this."

"What in the world is that?!" Silica's scream brought everyone's attention right above them. There, some kind of red liquid seemed to pour from the panels in the sky, forming just above the players. Slowly, some form of cloaked figure began to emerge from the clot, almost resembling a human. The being towered over everyone present.

"Is that….the Gamemaster?" The audience broke out in random muttering about what in the world they were looking at. Truth be told, Kirito had a very bad feeling about this. As much as he wanted to believe that perhaps this was just a minor problem, something seemed….foul about this.

"Attention players. I welcome you to my world." the daunting figure boasted over the players.

"What does he mean?" asked Kirito.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba, and as of this moment, I am in control of this world." Surprise and mutterings erupted around the players. This was **the **Akihiko Kayaba?! This was the creator of the game himself? How could that be? Still, the figure continued as if nothing was wrong. "I assume but now that most of you have noticed an item missing from your main menus; the 'Log Out' button. I can assure you that this is no defect. In fact, this was how Sword Art Online was meant to be played."

"He's kidding, right?" Klein asked in disbelief.

"You cannot log yourselves out, and no one from the outside world will be able to help you or remove the NerveGear from your head. If they do, a transmitter inside the NerveGear will activate and discharge a magnetic signal, which will in turn destroy your brain and end your life."

"Say what?!" Leafa's reaction couldn't have been more obvious or more justified. What was he saying? They were stuck here and could die at any time?! Klein called it BS and even asked Kirito about it. However, Kirito went on to explain how the NerveGear acted like microwaves and could very well destroy the brain, plus, because of the internal battery, there was no chance of cutting the power.

"Despite my warning, the families and friends of some less fortunate players attempted to remove the NerveGear. Very unfortunate to say the least. As a result, 213 players have been removed from the game, as well as real life." As he went on, additional computer screens appeared around Kayaba. "As you can see, international audiences around the globe are taking watch of these events, including the deaths."

To the horror of the players, the screens showed exactly what Kayaba was talking about. News channels from everywhere, from England to the United States, were showing images of gatherings around Japan. Families and siblings were everywhere, some in hospitals, some at the beds of the players, some crying in despair. One news headlines stood out:

"_**Death Toll Rises In Gaming Incident."**_

"N-No way." Silica was nearly covering her eyes, just trying to control the tears from coming out. She ended up leaning against Kirito, who helped keep her stable.

"It's important to note the following: there is no way to revive someone now. If your HP drops to zero, you will be removed from the game, and the NerveGear will destroy your brain. To escape, there is only one way and this is to complete the game. Right now, you are on the 1st floor and you must traverse through all 100 floors to win."

"All 100?" Leafa vaguely remembered that from the instruction booklet, though this was hardly how she imagined doing it. They had to go through 100 floors, and just one mistake could be fatal. Those weren't good odds. Hell, they weren't survivable!

"Oh, on another note, I've now placed an item each of your inventories. Please take a look at them." While most were still in disbelief, they all did as Kayaba said, seeing an item called "Mirror of Truth".

"Huh? I didn't see this earlier," Kirito commented, as if that was the strangest thing worth mentioning right now. Selecting the item, a mirror appeared in his hand. The same occurred for Leafa, Silica, Klein, and just about everyone else. She looked in to her blonde-haired reflection, but she didn't get to enjoy it much before the mirrors started engulfing everyone in blue light.

The shrieks of the players echoed around the meeting area, although the light didn't last for long. Kirito and Leafa didn't feel a whole lot different. However, it was a different story when their eyes happened to meet. Two familiar teenagers with dark hair.

"Suguha?" There was a brief pause, where Leafa wondered what Kirito would do, until she got her answer. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

They were lucky everyone was so focused on their own changes that no one paid attention to the screaming of the two siblings.

"How in the world did you get here?! When did you get a NerveGear? Hell, when did you start playing games at all?!" Kirito bombarded right off the bat.

"Um, that's a really long story." As if she had any real way to tell her brother how she clawed her way in here, especially the part about all the money borrowing.

"Leafa?" The dark-haired girl jumped a bit as she heard a tiny voice next to Kirito, where Silica used to be standing. However, Leafa didn't see anyone there, right until she happened to look down, seeing a pre-teen girl around her own age with twin ponytails on her head. After a few seconds went by, another set of confounded cries went out.

"You're not a teenager!"

"You're not...!" Silica paused a little bit. "Well, you're less than before!"

The fact that Silica was a kid probably shouldn't have been too much of a surprise to her, but considering all the shocking swerves occurring, just about every revelation was becoming unbelievable. Klein looked a bit older than his previous avatar, which at least seemed slightly amusing to Leafa, in a kind of lightheaded way. To some slight embarrassment, they all realized that not only did many players look different than their actual age, but the gender ratio changed a bit too. They all questioned how the game could even know their true appearances when Kirito then remembered how the NerveGear scans a persons' face, so it got their faces from there. Klein then remembered how they had to help calibrate it by touching themselves all around before play. Eventually, all attention went back to Kayaba.

"I assume you're all wondering by now what the point of all this is. Why would Akihiko Kayaba do all of this? Well, ultimately, I wanted to be in control of my own world: a world of my own design. As you can see, I have achieved my goal." He took another brief pause before continuing. "This marks the end of the tutorial, and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you all the best of luck."

Once that was said, the figure began shifting out of reality, slowly fading away from the view of the players as the tutorial ended. All there was in the area was silence.

And then, the area was filled with screams.

* * *

**(END)**

**And after who knows how long, Chapter 3 is in the books. All it did was take us 3 chapters to get to the same point as the first episode. Well anyway, the story is now set to take off.**

**Hope you all enjoyed this and continue to leave helpful reviews.**

**So, on behalf of ThisWillBeFun and myself, this is Sentinel07, signing out!**

**ThisWillBeFun: Actually, I'm signing back on to say "Hello!" I personally would like to thank for all the support you've given us, especially since we were in a rut with this chapter for the longest time. However, it was thanks to you, yes, you, that we were able to finish this. That, and more free time than what's healthy, but mostly you. ^^**

**So, uh, I guess I'm signing back out now. Because guess what? Unlike the characters, I can do it whenever I want! Hah!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone. I, Sentinel07 am back along with ThisWillBeFun to bring you Chapter 4 of Curiosity.**

**Well, by far, this is the largest amount of reviews and favorites I've gotten to start off a fic ever, and that is nice to know. I look forward to seeing where it goes from here.**

**Disclaimer: Neither of us own Sword Art Online or any other anime/video game we reference. If we did, well that would have been fun.**

**Last chapter saw us finally get back the big moment in SAO's beginning. Now, just how in the world will our protagonists handle the news? Let's find out. Hit it!**

**(BEGIN)**

* * *

**Chapter 4: Repercussions**

The cries and shrieks of the players echoed throughout the area, as they all experienced the cold-hearted news that they were now trapped in this game, if they didn't die soon.

"You got to be kidding me!"

"Let's get out of here!"

The range of emotions was vast. Some still tried to find the illusive "Log Out" button, while others just collapsed to the ground in stunned silence. The majority of the trapped players started running around like headless chickens. It was hard for Kirito to keep track of any of the others as the crowds kept getting even more chaotic. By now, he could barely make out Leafa and Klein in the crowds. Reaching out as far as he could, he miraculously managed to grab each of their hands.

"Follow me!" Kirito tugged on both of them, trying to plow his way out. Before she was completely dragged away, Leafa also grabbed the hand of the stunned Silica and pulled her out with her. Silica hadn't spoken a word since the announcement ended, obviously having trouble taking in everything around her. As much as Leafa was worried for the little girl's mental state, they needed some space to clear their heads. Kirito ended up dragging all three of them towards a nearby alley in one of the few areas of town that weren't being overflowed with panicking players. After letting his company go, he gave a long sigh and faced them.

"Alright, first of all, I don't know what you're doing here, but you will give me an explanation once we're out of town." Obviously, he directed that comment squarely at Leafa, who he gave a passing glare before turning to the team as a whole. "Now, we need to leave town immediately. With close to ten thousand players logged in at the same time, these grounds will likely be used for farming and grinding. There won't be much left for us, so we should head to the nearest town. There, we can perhaps start on some early quests and perhaps level up a bit."

"Then maybe we should try to get more people," Leafa suggested. Kirito just shook his head.

"A larger group means a larger target. The less people we have, the easier it'll be to move." Ironically, it was only then that he noticed Silica behind Leafa. He reignited his glare at Leafa. "You brought her with you?"

"She's a friend," she defended. "I'm not leaving her on her own. We all heard what's at stake now." Kirito took one more look at Silica, who was still rather mute, and gave a defeated sigh.

"Fine..."

"Um, Kirito," Klein said, nervously raising his hand. "If a large group is bad, then I think I should split here. I logged into this game with some friends of mine. It wouldn't be sporting of me to abandon them here." Kirito nodded his head in understanding, offering a handshake with Klein, who accepted with a smile.

"Good luck then," Kirito said.

"Same to you." Klein then looked over to the two girls behind his friend. "Good luck to all of you."

"Yeah, yeah," Leafa said, trying her best to keep some good humor through all the stress suddenly put upon her. "Just try not to mess around with the other girls here. I doubt they'll be as lenient as I was."

Klein couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. "If that's considered leniency, I'd hate to see what could really go wrong. Oh well, at least I can be sure about who's a girl now." Leafa's face did not show amusement. "Okay, I get it, don't flirt with every single girl, got it." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "So...I guess I'm gone then. Uh...see ya." He then nonchalantly strolled out of sight slowly and nervously.

Now, it was just the three of them. With nothing else to say, Kirito took it upon himself to just lead the merry little group through the alley, with Leafa barely holding Silica along. It wouldn't be too long until they were out of the town. Luckily for the girls, Kirito put it upon himself to take out any boars in their way so that his sister could continue holding onto her load.

* * *

Within all of the people stunned into silence by the news, one girl with short brown hair and a red standard uniform, sat there motionless on her knees, barely avoiding getting trampled by the more active players. She felt as if her short life just flashed before her eyes and her legs just felt numb. Even the noise of the crowds around didn't rouse her; they were deaf to her ears. At least, they were until….

**BONK!**

The poor girl happened to get run right over, hitting the concrete hard along with the person responsible. Needless to say, the girl's quick temper got her out of her trance.

"Hey! What the hell was that for?!" Lisbeth barely got a look at the figure before it was nearly out of range. However, she could still tell that it was a girl, wearing similarly red armor and having long hair. Apparently, the other girl didn't hear her, as she didn't even turn around to acknowledge her after her outburst.

"Hmph, of all the nerve…." Still, at least it got Lisbeth out of her funk, enough for her to get up on her feet at least. Sitting around wasn't going to do any good, but where was she to go now?

...did it matter? If this was truly now a game of life or death, did it really matter _where _she went? This game was so huge, she could go practically anywhere and the consequences would be the same. She'd be equally unprepared whether she went north, south, east, or northeast. This game was so full of uncertainties, she needed something to feel sure in.

It was then that Lisbeth ultimately decided that above all, she needed to be prepared for anything. Okay, what was the one thing in a game that would secure her safety? From the few RPGs she had played before, she remembered always getting thrashed by a bunch of the enemies once the game just got hard out of nowhere, forcing her to go back to the last time she saved. Unfortunately, reloading wasn't that much of an option now.

However, whenever she had to, she always just decided to upgrade and buy every item that could help her. Luckily, one always had plenty of money to spend by taking out the earlier, easier enemies that were barely a hassle. Yes, that was it. Lisbeth needed to stockpile and upgrade at every chance. Of course, that would still require more money, or Col, or whatever, along with more experience before she'd be able to do any of that.

She opened her inventory and and looked up her Straight Sword, deciding to inspect its stats. They weren't good, to say the least, but the thing had been able to kill a few beginner enemies earlier. It would have to do for now. Hopefully this game had some sort of weapons shop or forgery system.

* * *

As the opening chaos began to settle down somewhat, a girl with light blue clothing and short black hair observed the remains. The girl's name was Sachi and she was looking for her friends. Since the announcement of this "game", she was worried if any of them could have been among the 213 players that were already dead. She had to constantly shake her head to clear it of those horrible thoughts. They had to be alive. They had to. The only thing she could even consider fearing is that they had already gone out to the fields without her.

As luck would have it, that fear soon faded once she scanned the horizon again and smiled as her eyes landed on a familiar group of boys huddled near a shop.

"Everyone! I'm over here!" she cried out.

The boys looked towards the voice calling and quickly shouted back. "Sachi!" one of them with short brown hair called out. The girl quickly ran up to the group and was ready to collapse upon finally reaching them. Shuffling through the crowds and running all throughout the incredibly expansive town. "Thank God you're okay. You are okay, right?"

"Yes, thank you," Sachi answered with a weak smile. "How about you, Taka-, er, Keita?"

"Alright, all things considered," the player known as Keita chuckled nervously. "I guess the gang's all here then."

"Cool," another one of the players, one with long, curly brown hair and the player name of Sasamuru said. "So...now what do we do."

"I take it deciding to level up solo is out of the question," the blond-haired player known as Ducker said.

"Exactly," Keita said sternly. "So, I hope I speak for all of us when I say we should start forming our guild immediately."

"Yeah, that sounds about right," the boy with longer and lighter brown brown hair labelled as Tetsuo agreed. "You really think what that Kayaba guy said was true?"

"Are you kidding?!" Ducker shouted. "No way anyone could fabricate all those news reports, all those articles, all that...stuff."

"Calm down, man," Sasamuru said while placing his arm on his friend's shoulder. "At least we got each other. As long as we stick together, we'll be fine."

"He's right," Sachi said timidly. "We just need to form a guild right now, right T-Keita?"

"Correct," he concurred. "Seems like the Moonlit Black Cats will have to be formed sooner than originally thought."

"Well, lead the way then, leader," Ducker said confidently to Keita, who nodded before opening up his own menu.

"It's going to be impossible to keep up with you all. Now, just wait a little while so I can get everything set up."

"Go ahead," Sasamuru said before looking at the rest of the scurrying players throughout the town. "It's not like we don't have much time."

* * *

It took Asuna forever to escape the perpetual crowd of strangers, especially in her dazed state. Her body kept on bouncing off one person onto another, barely able to keep her own balance or consciousness. To say this whole thing was a shock to her system would be an understatement. Not even she was able to understand how she managed to make it to one of the local inn's. It wasn't until the woman at the reception desk of the place greeted her that Asuna arose from her trance.

"Hello there," the woman smiled serenely. She appeared to be a fairly young woman with what looked like a modest maid's outfit brown hair that was neatly tied into two long, braided pigtails, a style Asuna was not sure was completely possible to have. Then again, she remembered that this was a fantasy world, so almost anything was possible now. All except for why this girl was so damn calm despite everything going on around her. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Can you help me with anything?" Asuna repeated to the innkeeper in disbelief. "Can you…? **Do you have any idea what's going on?!**" Her face grew flustered in her anger, her thoughts barely more than a blizzard of various worries. Deep inside, she knew she needed to feel some anger, as at least she could identify that. "What is wrong with you?!"

"Uh, sorry, miss," the innkeeper said with a shocked expression on her face. "I understand that the current high population of the town may be stressful to most adventurers, but I assure you that-"

"**WHAT THE HELL DOES POPULATION HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?!' **The whole situation was just giving her a massive headache. How could this woman not be aware of any of this? Was she completely disattached from reality? No way this person could be real.

"Again, sorry, miss. I do not know what you are talking about, but I can tell that you are stressed. Perhaps you'd like to rent a room? Only 100 Col a day."

"This isn't-!" Asuna paused a moment as her anger helped clear the fog in her head to clear just a little bit more. Whether this woman was insane or not, she was offering a new option. Either she goes outside and get killed by something or other, or she stayed inside a safe, secure building with no one to bother her. No threats, no death. That sounded good about now.

"Fine…" she ultimately grumbled. "I'll take a room."

"Perfect!" the woman chirped before a menu option appeared in front of her, asking for confirmation of the transaction.

Now this threw Asuna off. The woman didn't pull up a menu or anything like she'd seen the other players do. Combining that with the innkeeper's seeming obliviousness to the true world outside, she was beginning to think that maybe this woman was just part of the game.

"Say, are you part of the game?"

"Pardon? I'm not sure I understand your question."

"Forget it." Asuna simply pressed the confirmation button and slumped as she saw it disappear.

"Perfect!" the innkeeper chirped once again. "Your keys are within your inventory. Your room is Number 208. We thank you for choosing the Rolando Inn."

"R...right…" Slowly walking to her appointed room, Asuna's mind began to race once again. Was this really the reality she was stuck in now? Was she really just at the mercy of a bunch of computers and complete strangers insane enough to fight against them? Damn her curiosity. She just _had _to pick up that stupid helmet of her brother's. Damn it all...

* * *

_Floor 1: Outside Town of Beginnings, 6:00 AST_

As it was already nearing sundown, Kirito, Leafa, and Silica rested against a tree on the side of the road. Leafa held Silica against her, stroking her head gently. Silica was just uttering words now, but they were mostly incoherent. Still, it seemed better than her previous nothing. Meanwhile, Kirito was looking at his status screen, while also apparently sending a message.

"Who are you messaging?" Leafa asked.

"An acquaintance of mine. Her name's Argo. I knew her in the beta, so I was able to hook up with her quickly." Kirito using the phrase "hook up", while not in a certain sense, still reminded Leafa of her chat a couple months ago with the girl. Just thinking of it made her shiver.

"Oh yeah, she's a real character… " she grumbled back, causing Kirito to raise an eyebrow.

"You know her? Since when?"

Leafa gulped a bit as she answered that question. " Since about a couple hours ago…..yeah, about two months ago…"

"What? How could you have known her before the game? As unlikely as it was for you to play this, I'm certain you're not a beta tester."

A nervous laugh was her first response. "Funny story about that…"

And so began the story of how this came to be. Leafa recounted everything from her video chat with Argo, to securing a copy of the game and a NerveGear, including having to "borrow" money. She could have sworn she heard Kirito mumble something along the lines of "So that's where my money went" or something like that.

"How did you hide that from Mom?" he asked as soon as the story caught up to present terms.

In spite of herself, Leafa laughed a bit. "I couldn't, actually. She found out the next day. She wasn't mad or anything, but she was disappointed that I didn't ask. I got double the amount of chores for 2 months."

"Heh heh, you're quite the troublemaker." Leafa looked down to see Silica giving her a cheeky smile.

"You're one to talk, little missy," she retorted. Silica actually laughed a little, which seemed to lift the tension a bit.

With the atmosphere lighter, Leafa back to Kirito. "So, what are you messaging her about?"

"I just want to know where she is. She can be pretty handy in a pinch after all. That, and we could use as much information of the area as we possibly can, which she'll know by memory. Right now, though, we should be heading to Horunka Village. There, we can at least get some rest and see what quests they have."

"What are those again?" Leafa didn't really have an idea, which made both of her partners to sigh.

"They're extra missions where you could get cool extras, like more money or items or anything really," Silica explained. Kirito wasn't quite sure what to say to the question. Not only did he have to survive this game, but also keep up with his relative who didn't have so much as a clue about videogames in general? The very thought made him groan both internally and externally. Still, whether he approved or not, both of these girls were undoubtedly his responsibility now. Figures how he'd end up trapped in his one escape with one of the many things he had been trying to escape from.

Without much else to say, the group continued on their way to Horunka Village. Kirito insisted that they would make it within the half hour, which worked just fine with the girls. According to the time displayed on their menus, it was only about 6:00 now; just half an hour since Kayaba's announcement. The trail pretty much consisted of nothing but boars, to which Kirito took out most of them, insisting he could get them down faster.

"You know Kazuto, I can take care of boars myself. I'm at a pretty good level," Leafa boasted, even showing Kirito since he was unaware of both girls' levels right now. In all honesty, Kirito was surprised. Level 4 was higher than his own, since he mostly took a backseat from fighting to teach Klein.

"Maybe, but you're still a newbie. Maybe later," Kirito replied calmly. Now, coming from him, he was likely just being honest, but the smart-ass tone of it still irritated Leafa. Without warning, as Kirito took out another boar, she charged past him and took out the last one on her own. She just smirked at Kirito once she was done.

"How's that for a newbie?"

"Hmm, not bad."

* * *

_Floor 1: Horunka Village, 6:25 PM AST_

Horunka Village was a quaint little town, just a few miles away from the Town of Beginnings. It was amazing to know how far you could travel in this game in just under an hour. Personally, Kirito had wished that he got there a little sooner, but he kept that to himself. He knew his sister well enough that…..

Actually, just thinking that made Kirito pause. He was now stuck in a death game with her. She was still blissfully unaware of what he learned not too many years ago. Perhaps it was the increased risk of death, but the very idea seemed to creep up to the forefront of his mind.

"Kazuto? Hey, snap out of it! I'm hungry!" Kirito woke up to a pair of snapping fingers in front of his face, as well as Leafa's stern face in front of his.

"Oh, um, sorry about that." With Kirito back down to earth, he began to think about something. "Say, uh, Suguha, you might want to stop calling me by my real name."

"What?" she said incredulously. "Are you seriously that embarrassed by me?!"

"W-what? N-no!" her brother said hastily. "Look, it's just...we're stuck here now in this world and it's basically considered rude to call other players by their real names."

"And why is that, exactly?"

"It's just rude to everyone else. The whole point of an MMO is to build a name for yourself, your character."

"But we are our characters now," Leafa retorted while motioning to her body, the same one she had before entering the game. "There's no hiding who we really are."

"You'd be surprised…" Kirito murmured before returning to audible volume. "Look, I don't make the rules. Point is, it would be rude to refer to ourselves as anything other than the names we gave to ourselves. Besides, do you really need someone unfamiliar to know your real name?"

"I guess not…" she grumbled. "So, I guess I'll just have to call you Kirito now?"

Said Kirito gave a nervous smile. "Correct, Leafa. No idea how you came up with that name."

"Well, at least my name isn't just an anagram of my real one, Mister Originality."

"It's a common method of naming," he defended. "At least mine makes sense."

"At least _I _put some actual thought into mine." Thus began a series of constant string of petty comebacks, each more annoyed than the last. Inwardly, Leafa was actually rather amused. The two hardly ever interacted in the real world, but now they were having their longest conversation in what was probably years, even if it was more of an argument. Silica could only watch the two in wonder. She could obviously tell the two knew each other well outside the game, but wasn't quite sure how. Whatever relationship they had, it seemed to be a little...strained.

As it turned out, arguing actually helped make the trip seem shorter. The group entered the village which appeared to already house a few other players already, but only a little more than a handful. One could tell that Kirito wanted to do a quest before hitting the sack by his restless appearance, but the rumbling in his stomach betrayed his thoughts. Both girls laughed a bit at his embarrassed face before they found a nice little restaurant. Much to Leafa's disappointment though, the place offered little more than assorted breads.

"Is this really all they've got?" Leafa groaned at the menu.

"Lesson Number One: Beginning levels in RPG's are usually the cheapest, both literally and figuratively," Kirito explained in a matter-of-factly manner. That didn't make Leafa, or Silica for that matter, much happier. They ended up ordering what he got, which was little more than a loaves of buttered bread

"Wow, eating food in a game. Heh heh, that's new," Silica sheepishly laughed, to the point where it almost sounded forced. However, Leafa wasn't in such a mood at this point. She had something she wanted to say to her ever since the tutorial.

"Eating is the least of your worries now! What are you even doing in this game? Last I checked, this was a C-rated game." Upon hearing those words, Silica immediately peered at her lap, a bit of a shameful look on her face. It was obvious she had a lot of thoughts she'd been trying to suppress for awhile were just beginning to break away.

At that moment, Kirito's eyes widened in realization. "Silica...do your parents even know you're playing this game?"

There was a long pause where everything seemed to go silent. "...They probably do now." Right as she said that, a few tears leaked down her cheeks. The sight of it brought down some of Leafa's frustration, but definitely not all of it.

"You gotta be crazy," Leafa said as she offered Silica her napkin to wipe her face. "Even if this game was normal, it's too much for a little kid." Unfortunately, those words seemed to have the opposite effect on Silica than intended, as she looked up at Leafa in anger.

"Oh, what do you know?! You're just one year older than me, so how is that much different?!" Silica's little burst got the attention of the rest of the restaurant guests, but no one really cared. Emotional outbursts were rather understandable, after all. Both Kirito and Leafa were taken back by her shouting, until Silica's face once again turned sorrowful.

"I-I'm sorry….I didn't mean to shout." Silica took a second to wipe her face again after that. "My parents have always been strict on what games I can play. They take those ratings very seriously, so all I could really play were kiddy games most of the time. My dad only bought me my NerveGear as a present for when I got older."

"So how did you get the game?" asked Kirito.

"When the game came out, after I finished my day of school, I snuck into a line at the game shop and bought it with my allowance. The people at the store still didn't believe that I was old enough, but I convinced them by saying that it was a present for a friend."

"And you kept this a secret?" asked Leafa.

"Of course. I kept it hidden in my room until I could play it. My parents were out on errands today, so I thought that I could use that time to be in the game from the beginning."

"So when you said your parents needed you back by four, that was just your estimate before they got home?" Silica's nod pretty much affirmed that. Leafa couldn't get too mad. Heck, she pretty much pulled the same wall over her brother too, though her mother caught her in the act.

Once Silica finishing her story, Kirito stood out of his chair. "Well, nothing can be done now. Nobody is getting out for quite some time."

"You believe what Kayaba said about death being real?" Leafa asked, despite really not wanting to hear the answer.

"Let's just say that I don't plan on testing that theory," Kirito responded. Satisfied enough with that answer, Leafa kept her mouth shut until she finished her bread. It was plain, but satisfying enough, as Kirito described many of SAO's foods. After everyone was done, Kirito began walking towards a bulletin board right next to the restaurant.

"What are you looking at?" Leafa asked. Kirito simply pointed to the board.

"Boards like these are where we'll be finding most of our quests."

"Oh, so we officially get to tag along?"

The very thought made him sigh. "Personally, I prefer being on my own, but I know that no matter what I do, you'll just end up following me anyway. I know better than to try and argue with you."

"Well, it's nice that you know your place," Leafa smiled while patting her brother on the shoulder. Silica just looked at the scene with her head tilted.

"Those two really seem to know each other well…" she mumbled to herself.

It didn't look like there were many quests to begin, but there were at least a good handful. Both Kirito and Leafa scanned over the board, though Leafa really felt an urge to pick something first. She could tell that Kirito didn't totally trust her in this game environment. It wasn't long before she saw Kirito seeming to eye a certain quest, apparently titled "Secret Medicine of the Forest". Catchy name, but she wanted a say.

"That one!"Just wanting to make a point, she immediately jabbed her finger at whatever it happened to land on. Kirito and Silica leaned over to see where she pointed: "The Dungeon's Treasure". The reward for such a quest seemed to be unknown.

"What's the reward for that one?"

"Hmm, not sure actually. I didn't get to do all of the quests in the beta."

"Then we have a winner!" Leafa cheered, suddenly feeling very excited to see her first true quest. Kirito didn't seem bothered too much, though he did wonder just how this would go with Leafa trying to put herself in authority. Such a thought filled him with equal parts curiosity and dread.

Still, Kirito went along with it, looking up the instructions for the quest. The dungeon was nearby, so maybe they could get it all done before it got too dark. Once he got the directions and engraved them in his head, the group decided to head off. Although they did not see it, a rather desperate-looking player came up to the board behind them and eagerly took the quest Kirito was just looking at.

Oh well, Kirito wasn't too concerned over the mission they had chosen. If it didn't work out, he knew how to make up for it. The dungeon only required a short walk, about 10-15 minutes or so to make it, so it wasn't too long before the trio was standing in front of the entrance. From Kirito's view, it was just your typical standard beginning dungeon, no big deal. Even with the new death penalty in mind, he wasn't too worried about such a breezy quest. Although, he still thought about the two girls he was in charge of now. If he slipped up now, he'd mess things up for all of them. That was what weighed the heaviest on his mind right now.

Of course, both of the girls were worrying the exact same.

* * *

**(END)**

**And so we have the events of the first day, as well as the introductions of Lisbeth, Asuna, and Sachi. Criminy, there's a severe lack of males in this game. Oh well.**

**Just as a note for those of you who don't know, Leafa's point of SAO being a "C-rated"game is part of Japan's rating system. A C-rating means "15 and above" which is closest to how the anime described SAO as a "14 and above" game. **

**I'd also like to say something else, since I've seen a message or two about certain events. The primary source that TWBF and I are using is the anime adaptation, along with any major points we can find on the Sword Art Online Wiki. Neither of us are well acquainted with the novels (though I have read some), and neither of us have read the Progressive novels. So, we might not be doing those specific events if we don't feel like they fit into the story structure. Just to put that out there.**

**So, we hope you enjoy it all. We're just getting into the meat of this story. Please review and share your thoughts!**

**This is Sentinel07, and I'm signing out!**

**...and ThisWillBeFun signing in. Well, looks like we've just begun truly beginning to begin. We actually had to save what was supposed to be a good part of the chapter for the next for both time and proper execution. Anyway, we both can't wait to do what we plan to do and I hope you plan to wait to see.**

**That being said, I'm out!**


End file.
